The First Question

@sonship said
@Ghost-of-a-Duke

When a natural disaster does occur, say a tsunami that causes untold destruction and random loss of life, where 'is' God (the all-powerful and perfectly loving deity) in that?

I do not think every natural misfortune is proof that God does not love us.

Did He:
A. Send the disaster?
B. Allow it to happen?
C. Lack the p ...[text shortened]... His purpose." (Rom. 8:28)

That is all the time I have this morning. I have more to say.

Follow up question:

Would you say your flippancy is greater in relation to suicide (where people are simply shortsighted) or 'natural disasters' where victims wiped out in their thousands has the silver lining of others realizing they should pray more often?

@Ghost-of-a-Duke

Would you say your flippancy is greater in relation to suicide (where people are simply shortsighted) or 'natural disasters' where victims wiped out in their thousands has the silver lining of others realizing they should pray more often?

I would say that to the Atheist it really makes no difference one way or the other, how he attempts to heap conviction upon me.

Ultimately he has no solid basis for viewing human life as sacred and valuable. If he insists he does, he either steals that concept from a theistic world view or he simply means it is his taste and preference that it be so. The taste of a serial killer is not better or no worse. It is all relative to personal taste.

To the Atheist the objecting that one should not be flippant about human life is about as substantial as one deciding one should not be flippant that chocolate ice cream is not as good as vanilla.

Man has no intrinsic dignity above that of the cockroach for the Atheist. Both are accidents in a purposeless universe. With this Atheist there is no real reason to regard the life of the human being more sacred then that of the roach.

If he fiends outrage it is only because for a brief moment he has stolen human worth and dignity from a theistic world view which believes men and women are made in the image of God Who is the ground of dignity.

So when the Atheist Ghost-of-a-Duke continues to heap guilt upon a Christian for seemingly lightly esteeming human life, remember that he is STEALING from a Christian concept temporarily to utilize that concept for his Atheism.

Without stealing from a Christian concept there is no solid and lasting dignity of human life in his accident, purposeless, random, usually only material world view.

He craves the dubious comfort of an existence without God. Yet he doesn't want its byproduct - human worth collapsing in being built on nothing solid. The flippancy has been committed by his Atheism in that nothing is left of human worth to be grounded in other than his flimsy personal taste, as the personal taste for, say, flavors of ice cream.

@sonship said
Man has no intrinsic dignity above that of the cockroach for the Atheist. Both are accidents with not real reason to regard the life of the human being more sacred then that of the roach.

Good for you if your religion makes you feel meaningful and secure. Unfortunately, this stuff of yours about cockroaches makes you sound bitter and insecure.

@sonship said
@Ghost-of-a-Duke

Would you say your flippancy is greater in relation to suicide (where people are simply shortsighted) or 'natural disasters' where victims wiped out in their thousands has the silver lining of others realizing they should pray more often?

I would say that to the Atheist it really makes no difference one way or the other, how he attempts ...[text shortened]... unded in other than his flimsy personal taste, as the personal taste for, say, flavors of ice cream.

Oh dear. Not only do you fail to understand atheism, but you also fail dreadfully to understand the human condition, and how that, even without God, man does not equate human life to that of a cockroach or treat life arbitrarily like ice cream.

Is that what religion does to a person? Is that what religion has done to you?!

@Ghost-of-a-Duke

Not only do you fail to understand atheism, but you also fail dreadfully to understand the human condition, and how that, even without God, man does not equate human life to that of a cockroach or treat life arbitrarily like ice cream.

Well does Richard Dawkins "understand" Atheism well enough for you?

If so, here's what he says about human beings.

" In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”

Since best selling Atheist Richard Dawkins understands your Atheism so well, maybe you could locate in this assessment the ground for any meaningful human dignity.

On what bases of his critique of your no God existence do you insert "dignity" into the list of things of which he says there is none of?

@sonship said
@Ghost-of-a-Duke

Not only do you fail to understand atheism, but you also fail dreadfully to understand the human condition, and how that, even without God, man does not equate human life to that of a cockroach or treat life arbitrarily like ice cream.

Well does Richard Dawkins "understand" Atheism well enough for you?

If so, here's what he says ...[text shortened]... no God existence do you insert "dignity" into the list of things of which he says there is none of?

Maybe Richard Dawkins will join RHP and post his answers to your questions.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Is that what religion does to a person? Is that what religion has done to you?!

@ghost-of-a-duke said to sonship
Oh dear. Not only do you fail to understand atheism, but you also fail dreadfully to understand the human condition, and how that, even without God, man does not equate human life to that of a cockroach or treat life arbitrarily like ice cream. 

Is that what religion does to a person? Is that what religion has done to you?!

One may ask oneself: is sonship's mindmap - or the one his religion has apparently given him - something one would wish to emulate?